How can medical students be encouraged to train in geriatrics?

Geriatricians have the training and skills to care for the increasingly complex chronic illnesses of the aging population, yet there are too few medical students entering the field of geriatrics. Financial burden and lifestyle are two important factors affecting medical students’ choice of specialty that need to be addressed. Providing meaningful interactions with the elderly prior to medical school, having high-functioning clinical experiences in medical school, and enthusiastic mentors in geriatrics who have been given the academic time to teach are all vital to influencing more trainees to consider geriatrics as a specialty. As the elderly population increases rapidly it is imperative more students consider a career in geriatrics.